Wednesday Delivery (10/25): Lingcod, Squid, and/or Rock Crab

As always we have some very exciting options this week! This weeks' "Catch of the Week" is beautiful Lingcod from one of our local day boats!

In addition we have fresh Market Squid from Monterey and Cooked Rock Crab Claws from Santa Cruz for our "Seasonal Selection!"

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This week we heard word from one of our local day boats that they will be going out this Monday to catch beautiful Lingcod which we will be offering filleted to our members for delivery on Wednesday!

Lingcod has beautiful white (sometimes blue!) meat - no one has yet been able to explain why some fish have a blue-tinted flesh but they are always an exciting surprise and the color cooks out completely leaving a snow white piece of fish. The meat is mild and tender yet holds up well to various baking techniques resulting in soft moist flakes!

Lingcod is neither a ling or a cod (confusing we know) but in completely separate family! Our Partners at Seafood Watch consider Lingcod caught with set longlines a "Best Choice" The stocks are healthy, and these fisheries are managed well. More than 80% of the lingcod caught in the U.S. is a "Best Choice."

Lingcod and notoriously elusive fish to catch and we cannot guarantee enough will be brought in to accommodate all orders (this is why we have not offered it in the past) BUT it is an exciting option so Opt-ins for Lingcod will be fulfilled on a first come first serve basis. If you would like to have a seasonal selection as a backup please write down a "backup option" in your opt-in email before you hit send! We will follow up on Monday night or Tuesdayonce we have a final count of the fish to notify you if we were able to fulfill your order.

Single Orders of Lingcod will include between 1 and 1.25 lbs of skin on fillets and four recipes *fillets will have some small pin bones in them

Regular orders too much seafood for you? Try a half share!

Half Orders of Lingcod will include around .5 to .6 lb of skin on fillets, and four recipes*fillets will have some small pin bones in them

Now that we have built a stronger relationship with our fishermen and women we are happy to announce that we will be offering a seasonal selection of seafood which will be offered consistently each Wednesday in addition to our rotating catch.

This month we have several squid boats going out multiple times a week as well as our rock crab boat in Santa Cruz going out twice a week. This allows us to always pick up our catch on a Monday or Tuesday to be delivered Wednesday, guaranteeing a fresh selection every week for our members!

Fresh Market Squid

Have you ever driven down Highway 1 at night and noticed a fleet of boats shining bright spotlights onto the ocean? This is part of our local squid fleet using their spotlights to attract squids into their nets! Our squid boats go out several times a week and land their catch in Monterey making them a consistent seasonal and sustainable selection that we are happy to offer every week to our customers while our boats are able to go out to sea.They are perfect for calamari or to spice up a delicious pasta dish! Squid will come whole so you will have the opportunity to learn a little squid anatomy and save the ink to use in your pasta or an inky Halloween-inspired dish that both kids and adults will love!

Our partners at Seafood Watch consider Market Squid caught with purse sense in California a "Good Alternative" as squid are an important part of the ocean food chain acting as both predator and prey for many different species and there is little assessment or regulations that limit the squid fishery at this time but we hope there will be more soon!

Fresh Rock Crabs from Santa Cruz are a Seasonal Selection available to members each week! Captain Jason goes out twice a week to catch them and hand picks out the best and biggest of the bunch for us to cook up for our members early Wednesday morning. Rock crabs are a delicious and sustainable local alternative to the infamous Dungeness crab. Many restaurants like to use them as a substitute for Dungeness, but here at FreshCatch we like to think of them a little bit more like a Western cousin of the famous Florida Stone Crabs! They have big meaty claws and a rock-hard exteriors to protect their sweet centers. Most of their meat is in their claws and the arm attached to that claw so that is what we will be delivering with shares, the body meat is minimal making it perfect for stocks! There are only a couple boats catching these guys so you won't be finding them at your local grocery store!

Our partners at Seafood Watch consider Rock Crab caught in California in net pots a "Good Alternative" because the stocks are due for an assessment and there is concern for pots damaging seafloor. Jason avoids sensitive habitat zones and returns all small crabs back to the ocean making his catch more sustainable then others.